-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In the wake of the tragic shootings at Columbine High School , some schools across the country turned themselves into near-fortresses .

Kindergarden students huddle beneath desks in a lockdown drill . Such drills have become common .

They installed metal detectors and security cameras , banned backpacks , required students to carry IDs and posted police in the hallways -- all in the name of keeping students safe .

Now , 10 years after those highly publicized shootings in which two young men killed 13 people and themselves , school security has taken another dramatic turn .

Some of the noticeable security measures remain , but experts say the country is exploring a new way to protect kids from in-school violence : administrators now want to foster school communities that essentially can protect themselves with or without the high-tech gear .

`` The first and best line of defense is always a well-trained , highly alert staff and student body , '' said Kenneth Trump , president of National School Safety and Security Services , an Ohio-based firm specializing in school security .

`` The No. 1 way we find out about weapons in schools is not from a piece of equipment -LSB- such as a metal detector -RSB- but from a kid who comes forward and reports it to an adult that he or she trusts . '' See how many homicides have occurred in schools since 1992 ''

The Obama administration plans to create secure schools indirectly , by improving overall education , getting kids more involved in their studies and strengthening school communities , said William Modzeleski , a high-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Education who handles school security .

The trend is reflected in security funding , some of which comes from federal grants . Allocations for the Department of Education 's Safe and Drug-Free Schools program were cut by a third between 1999 and 2008 , to about $ 294.8 million last year . And a program that has put about 6,300 police officers in public schools since Columbine was scrapped by the U.S. Department of Justice after 2005 , according to Corey Ray , a spokesman for the department .

Ray said he 's hopeful President Obama 's stimulus package will put more police officers in schools . They act as law enforcement officers as well as counselors and mentors to students , he said .

Meanwhile , money for a school counseling grant program has increased since Columbine , with $ 52 million set aside for this fiscal year , compared to $ 20 million in 2000 , the first year the program was funded , according to budget numbers compiled for CNN by the Department of Education . So while there 's more money available for counseling , there 's still been a steady decline in federal spending for other aspects of school security .

Some critics say a lack of available funding for high-tech security upgrades may be behind the shift toward less-costly and more indirect violence prevention measures .

`` Right now , the economic situation is affecting -LSB- school security funding -RSB- . Particularly the technology components of security are going to suffer because there 's just not going to be the money to do these kinds of things , '' said Dan Domenech , executive director of the American Association of School Administrators . `` We 're in the process of laying off teachers and staff . ''

Trump , the security consultant in Ohio , said schools have lost their focus on security since Columbine . But he added that many effective security programs cost little or no money -- only the time it takes to train teachers and students how to spot potential problems and how to react if a shooting were to occur .

While metal detectors may not be the best tools to prevent school shootings , they still can be useful in some crime-ridden school districts and , along with security cameras , should not be abandoned entirely , Modzeleski said .

Some evidence suggests strong school communities -- where kids feel like they can come forward with problems -- can prevent violent crime .

A 2008 Secret Service report found that in more than 80 percent of instances of school violence , at least one person , usually a fellow student or peer , had knowledge of the attackers ' plans . If people who suspect a problem feel comfortable enough in school to tell a teacher or a principal , then attacks could be prevented , Modzeleski said .

After Columbine , many states and school districts made quick moves to increase school security , experts say . Modzeleski said this was a `` kneejerk '' reaction to the tragic , but rare , event ; and a decade later , policies are settling into a middle ground .

`` Immediately after any of these incidents I think there 's the immediate rush for more security , '' he said . `` That 's what I would call the kneejerk reaction to any type of these events : ` We need more cops ; we need more metal detectors ; we need more cameras . ' After that settles in , I think people come to their senses and say , ` Hey , if we 're going to keep our kids safe in schools , we need more than that . ' '' iReport.com : How did Columbine affect you ?

After Columbine , some states started requiring schools to prepare for school shootings with lockdown drills , much in the way they prepare for fires or other disasters .

About once a month in Fort Wayne , Indiana , public and private school students pull down window shades and huddle in the back corners of dark classrooms while their schools go into lockdown mode , said John Weicker , security director at Fort Wayne Community Schools .

A school administrator roams the halls to make sure all doors are locked and all students are hidden from what might be a school shooter if this scenario was not a drill .

`` You 're training the kids , '' Weicker said .

Similar drills -- which , in some states , are attended by armed and masked SWAT teams -- are now practiced routinely in nearly three-quarters of schools , according to a recent survey of 445 administrators funded by the American Association of School Administrators .

It 's difficult to say whether these policies are working , but by some measures , school safety has improved in the decade since Columbine . Watch parents remember children lost at Columbine ''

On average , there have been about half as many deaths per year since Columbine as in the seven school years before the tragedy , according to a 2007 report from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics .

In the school year immediately following the Columbine shootings , the number of in-school homicides dropped from 33 in the 1998-1999 school year to 13 in the 1999-2000 year , the report says .

Several experts say the tragedy brought awareness to the issue of school security , which on the whole has been positive . They worry , however , that attention has been waning in the past few years .

A 17-year-old student in Fort Wayne , Indiana , however , said that while he is reassured by tight school security , it 's a good thing that the Columbine shootings rarely enter his mind .

`` There 's a couple times that we 'll talk about it in like a history class , '' said Travis Armstrong , a high school junior . `` Because that did happen back a while ago , and therefore it is considered history . ''

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10 years after Columbine , schools are taking a new look at security

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Immediately after the shootings , schools added cameras and metal detectors

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Now they 're trying to foster safer and better school communities

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Meanwhile , overall funding for school security has dropped by about a third